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Chronos-Shrike

Known as the Primary Hunter of the Hollow, legend says the first Shrike was a hawk that flew through a chronomancer's collapsing tower. It no longer exists in a single moment, but across a five-second window of local time.

Monsters
Large monstrosity · Hard · Rare

Chronos-Shrike

A sleek, temporal avian predator that hunts in stagnant pockets of time, feasting on the future potential of its prey.
AC18
HP127/127
CRHard
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

Combat

AC 18 · HP 127 · Hard

Chronos-Shrike

Large monstrosity (temporal), neutral evil
Armor Class18 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points127 (15d10 + 45)
Speed
20 ft. walk,
90 ft. fly (hover)
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsDexterityWisdom
SkillsPerceptionStealthAcrobatics
Damage Resistances
Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from non-magical attacks
Immunities
Force
Weaknesses
Vulnerable to psychic damage
Senses
Truesight 60 ft.,
Passive Perception 20
Languages
Understands Sylvan and Common but cannot speak
ChallengeHard
Proficiency Bonus+3
Temporal Blur. The Shrike constantly vibrates between moments. Attack rolls against it have disadvantage unless the Shrike is incapacitated or its speed is 0.
Evasion. If the Shrike is subjected to an effect that allows it to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, it instead takes no damage on success and half damage on failure.
Chronal Feed. When the Shrike deals damage with its talons, it regains hit points equal to half the force damage dealt as it consumes the target's temporal energy.

Actions

Multiattack. The Shrike makes three Chronal Talon attacks.
Chronal Talon. Melee Weapon Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 () slashing damage plus 7 () force damage. The target's movement speed is reduced by 10 feet until the start of the Shrike's next turn.
Strobe Strike (Recharge 5-6). The Shrike briefly splits into three temporal echoes and attacks one creature it can see within 30 feet. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 42 () force damage and is Stunned until the end of its next turn as its personal timeline is fractured. On a success, it takes half damage and isn't Stunned. The Shrike then teleports to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target.

Reactions

Flicker Step. When a creature the Shrike can see misses it with an attack, the Shrike can teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.

Legendary Actions

Shift Position. The Shrike teleports up to 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.
Peck at the Past (costs 2 actions). The Shrike makes one Chronal Talon attack. If the attack hits, the target loses its reaction until the start of its next turn.
Time Sink (Costs 3 Actions) (costs 3 actions). The Shrike emits a pulse of slowing energy. Each creature within 20 feet must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be affected by the Slow spell until the end of the Shrike's next turn.
Role
Striker/Ambusher
Built for
8

Feats

Alert
Mobile

Notes for the game master

Strobe Strike represents the Shrike attacking from the past, present, and future simultaneously.
Temporal Blur is suppressed if the Shrike is hit by a Slow spell or similar effect.

Tactics

  1. Opening

    The Shrike uses its fly speed and high Stealth to remain high in the 'thick' air of the Hollow, initiating with Strobe Strike on the target with the highest current health.

  2. Mid-fight

    It utilizes Flicker Step to avoid being cornered by melee combatants, focusing its Chronal Talon attacks on spellcasters to disrupt their concentration through speed reduction and reaction loss.

  3. End of the fight

    Once a target is weakened, it stays within 5 feet to use Time Sink and guarantee its feeding, hovering just out of reach of grounded melee fighters.

  4. Retreat

    If reduced to below 30 hit points, the Shrike lets out a screech that echoes into the future and teleports repeatedly until it vanishes into a chronal rift.

How it fights

Never stays in one place for more than one turn.
Uses high verticality to its advantage.
Prioritizes targets that have 'Haste' or other time-manipulation spells active, as they are 'tastier'.

Who it attacks first

Chronographers/Wizards
High-Dexterity strikers (Rogues/Monks)
Slow-moving heavy armor users

Works well with

Lair actions that cause 'Slow' or 'Confusion' effects.
Environmental hazards like 'Time Pressure' which damages players who don't move.

How to beat it

Dispel Magic (to briefly stabilize its form)
Hold Monster
Spells that impose the Restrained condition

Ways to avoid a fight

The Shrike can be bribed with 'Spent Time' - objects of great historical significance or artifacts that have seen centuries of use.
It might be distracted by a Chronometer or a clock that tracks precise time, fascinated by the 'heartbeat' of the machine.

Ecology

A four-winged bird with a needle-thin beak and six obsidian talons. Its feathers are translucent, shifting between glass-like clarity and a blurred, vibrating haze that leaves trails in the air.

Behavior

The Shrike does not dive from the sky; it appears instantly within reach. It is patient, watching its prey from 'seconds ago' before striking when the victim is most vulnerable.

How it lives

The Chronos-Shrike consumes the 'unspent time' of living creatures. A victim of a Shrike does not die of wounds alone; they wither into husks as their remaining decades of life are sucked away in moments.

Lair

Nests made of 'frozen' debris: leaves caught in mid-fall and petrified light, located in the centers of time-dilation fields.

Habitat
The Hollow, chronal rifts, cursed forests where time flow is irregular.

Signs that it is near

A bird's song that repeats perfectly every ten seconds
Fruit that rots and returns to a blossom within a minute
Echoes of your own footsteps coming from ahead of you
Shadows of wings that appear on the ground before any bird is visible

Tags

Chronal,
Avian,
Apex Predator

Lore

Known as the Primary Hunter of the Hollow, legend says the first Shrike was a hawk that flew through a chronomancer's collapsing tower. It no longer exists in a single moment, but across a five-second window of local time.

What drives it

Hunger for the kinetic energy of life's potential. It is particularly drawn to young, ambitious adventurers.

After the fight

The clearing where the Shrike was defeated remains strangely quiet. Any wounds inflicted by the Shrike leave scars that look decades older than the rest of the victim's body. The 'stolen time' dissipates into the air, causing local plants to grow and wither in a rapid, beautiful cycle.

Variants

Ancient Aeon-Shrike: CR 15, can cast Time Stop once per day.
Void-Shrike: Deals necrotic damage and can pull targets into a demiplane of nothingness.

Hooks

Plot hooks

A village has had its children age 40 years overnight, and a shimmering bird was seen at the forest edge.
The party needs to travel to the past, and a Shrike's tail feather is the only component capable of tethering them.
The Hollow is expanding because the Chronos-Shrike population is overhunting the natural 'flow' of the forest.

How to use it

A lonely predator in a time-warped glade.
Guardian of a 'Time Seed' or artifact.
A recurring harasser that steals 'time' (spell slots or turns) before retreating.

Treasure

Chronos-Shrike Feathers (can be used to craft Potions of Haste or Arrows of Slowing)
A Half-Eaten Hourglass containing sand that flows upward
The 'Future Dust' found in its nest, usable as a component for the Foresight spell

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